Blogs: Being International

When the movie Arrival came out in 2016, I was overjoyed: for the first time, a woman linguist was the main character in a Hollywood movie, not to mention the fact that the linguistic consultant of this film – ...

This summer I voluntarily stayed up all night for about nine days to stare at some computer screens and push some buttons. Voluntarily, I became a true night dweller by waking up at 7pm and going to bed at 8am.
I wasn’t practicing some weird voodoo sleeping schedule or avoiding the sunlight. I was...

On a sunny day last fall, I wanted to try cooking a typical Indonesian food called ‘rendang,’ a delicious spicy beef curry.
Figure 1. Rendang is best served with warm jasmine rice, shrimp crackers, and fresh cucumber.
I left my apartment to go grocery shopping while catching Pokemon at the same...

In graduate school I explored and developed a new side of myself. And no, I’m not talking about academics or hobbies, this was far more personal.
This was about coming to terms with being gay, finding a partner and telling my friends and family.
I want to share this story and how the awesome people...

Just as some people are addicted to coffee, I am addicted to green tea. However, I think ‘addiction’ is a too strong of a word. I do not drink green tea twice a day in my office while working on research and problem sets, like how others drink their coffee.
I cannot recall the exact time when I...

I spent my childhood in Shanghai, the largest city in China. However, as a child, I never had the chance to explore this big city.
After I graduated from high school and moved to Pasadena with my family for my undergraduate studies, I became accustomed to life in the suburbs, a place where people...

“How do I get to MIT?” I asked.
It was a sunny afternoon with a crisp fall breeze. I was only 2 weeks into my first trip to the US, but I was already missing the warmth of Mumbai air.
“Well, you are already at MIT,” the lady standing near a white sculpture of human body replied. “Just walk straight...

When asked the entitled question ("Why Choose MIT?"), especially by prospective students whom I haven’t gotten to know well personally, I’m often at loss as to how to respond.
The follow-up question that I’ve always secretly wanted to ask back is this: When your initial reasons for going to MIT are...

Arriving in from the sweltering heat of a typical Korean summer, the crisp cool weather and matching blue sky which Boston greeted me with was the perfect weather for my start as a new graduate student.
And as a graduate student should be, I decided to be frugal and take the T (subway of the...

“… you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future…”
It was a rainy monsoon evening of August, almost a year after my first visit as a tourist to MIT. I had decided to finally go meet (read as: go on blind date) with the guy chosen by my parents.
In India, turning 26 is a...